Monteswar assembly polls 2026: Saikat Paja of BJP wins against TMC's Chowdhury Siddiqullah

Saikat Paja of the Bharatiya Janata Party won the Monteswar Assembly constituency in Purba Bardhaman, defeating Chowdhury Siddiqullah of the All India Trinamool Congress.As West Bengal entered its 2026 Legislative Assembly election, Monteswar remained a key battleground. The AITC fielded veteran leader and sitting MLA Chowdhury Siddiqullah, who also serves as a state cabinet minister. The other candidates in the fray included Anupam Ghosh of the CPI(M) and Jyotirmoy Mandal of the Indian National Congress.This four-way contest reflects the shifting political allegiances in a region that has seen both record margins and narrow victories over the last decade. The electoral history of Monteswar highlights a decade of Trinamool consolidation. In the 2021 Election, Chowdhury Siddiqullah secured a decisive win with 1,05,460 votes, defeating the BJP’s Saikat Panja by a margin of 31,805 votes. This was a continuation of the party's success from 2016, though that year was more turbulent.Initially, Sajal Panja (AITC) won the 2016 general election by a razor-thin margin of only 706 votes. However, following his untimely demise, a subsequent by-election saw Saikat Panja (then representing AITC) win by a staggering, record-breaking margin before he later shifted his allegiance to the BJP. Demographically, Monteswar is a strictly rural constituency where agriculture, particularly paddy farming, dictates the socio-economic rhythm.The population is characterized by significant religious and social diversity, approximately 57.7% are Hindu and 41.8% are Muslim. The constituency also has a substantial Scheduled Caste (SC) population at roughly 24%, while Scheduled Tribes (ST) make up nearly 3%. With a literacy rate of about 73% and a landscape dotted with 136 fully electrified villages, the area remains a quintessential example of Bengal’s agrarian heartland, where local development and identity politics often intersect at the ballot box.